Roddick serves way past Djokovic, will face Lopez in Dubai final

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Andy Roddick served his way into the Dubai Tennis Championships final, beating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 on Friday.

The sixth-seeded American had 14 aces and multiple winning serves at more than 137 mph in the semifinal match.

Like Rafael Nadal, who lost to Roddick in Thursday's quarterfinals, Djokovic failed to break Roddick's serve.

"I can play tennis sometimes, besides the serve," said Roddick, who highlighted his volleys and spectacular passing shots.

Djokovic, who made several unforced errors, praised Roddick's tactics.

"He was really smart, he deserved it," the third-ranked Serb said.

Roddick said the tournament couldn't have gone better.

"There's not much I'm not happy with as far as the week goes so far," Roddick said.

In the other semifinal match, Feliciano Lopez won five straight games in the last set to beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

The Spaniard trailed the fifth-seeded Russian 5-2 in the decider.

"The end of the set was a little bit crazy," said Lopez. "Honestly, I think I was lucky. I came back, I don't know how."

Lopez started the match badly, losing the opening three games. Ranked 41st, Lopez has struggled since losing the 2004 Dubai final to Roger Federer.

"It's not a problem of my game, it's a problem of my head," Lopez said.

Davydenko blamed his defeat on fatigue and tactics.

"I tried to win from (the) baseline, but I can't," Davydenko said.